

"Hurricane Earl pounded North Carolina late Thursday night with powerful but diminishing strength, pelting the eastern part of the state with bands of rain and severe blasts of wind as communities and seaside towns across the eastern seaboard braced for the storm's devastating force.
"The storm weakened as it approached the coast, shifting in strength from a Category 3 to a Category 2, but was still expected to sideswipe the Outer Banks in North Carolina overnight with winds exceeding 100 miles per hour. By 11 p.m., Earl was about 115 miles south-southeast of Cape Hatteras, and was steadily marching forward, unleashing severe rain squalls and gusts of wind along the Outer Banks."